


Baby D

by Mix Stitch (Synph)



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Babies, Drabble Collection, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2017-11-15 05:13:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 7,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/523527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Synph/pseuds/Mix%20Stitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason is Damian's father and he hasn't the slightest idea of what he's doing, taking a baby on the run and hoping to hide from Ra's al Ghul of all people.</p><p>A series of relatively random snippets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One Time Damian Wayne Wasn't (A Wayne)

Jason Todd doesn’t know the first thing about taking care of a kid.

He says as much to Talia when the older woman presses a dark-haired infant into his arms when she catches up to him outside of the swank hotel in Switzerland where he’s been holed up for the past few weeks and gets a steely glare for his troubles.

“Damian is  _your_ son too,” Talia says as she shifts the silent infant in Jason’s arms until the young man is holding the baby boy properly in the crook of his arm. “I need you to take care of him.” Carefully, she loops a large baby bag around Jason’s shoulders and then steps back a foot or two. “You can do it, Jason. I trust you.”

Talia turns to walk away from Jason into the night, but the younger man reaches for her faster than he should be able to do with a baby in his arms and closes his fingers around the sleeve of her coat. “God, Talia,” Jason breathes as he looks down at the woman responsible for his current state. “You can’t just… hand me a baby and expect me to go along with that. Babies don’t even  _like_  me.”

“Damian seems to like you just fine,” Talia points out without meeting Jason’s eyes, reaching out and running the back of her index finger over Damian’s plump cheek as she talks in a fast but low tone. “Please, Jason. I know you don’t owe me anything, but I am begging you: take Damian and go somewhere far away.”

Jason frowns, hearing the worry in Talia’s voice and frowning for it. Talia isn’t supposed to worry. She’s not supposed to feel fear. “What happened, Talia?”

Talia shudders and her eyes squeeze shut for a second. “My father has decided that Damian will be his heir,” she says in a voice that seems almost  _devoid_  of all emotion. “I refuse to let that happen to him.”

“Yeah,” Jason mutters, mind flashing back to his few unwanted encounters with Ra’s al Ghul. “I don’t blame you for that. But why come to  _me_?” He glances down at Damian when the baby starts to gum at the front of his jacket at one of the empty button holes. “Do you really think  _I_  can keep Damian off your father’s radar?”

The look in Talia’s eyes is one of chilling resolve. “I do,” she admits in a voice that is almost a growl. “And you will. I know you can.” She walks away and this time Jason makes no effort to stop her as she quickly puts space between them.

Damian gurgles softly and one tiny fist thumps lightly against the front of Jason’s chest in order to get his father’s attention.

Jason finds himself smiling down at the frowning baby in his arms and he jiggles Damian gently as he starts walking toward the front door of his hotel. “It looks like you’re stuck with me, little guy,” he says to Damian as they come in from the cold. “I hope your mother knows what she’s doing.”


	2. Measuring Up

Damian is not like any other baby that Jason has ever come in contact with before.

He’s a cute kid, Jason thinks to himself as he props the small baby up on a nest of fluffy hotel pillows that bracket his front and sides and then rolls onto his stomach so that he can look the baby in the face, but the judging look on his round little face as he scowls at Jason is  _all_  Talia. (It’s not a bad look on the little guy either if Jason is being honest. The pout kind of looks… cute on Damian as the little baby raises one chubby fist up to his mouth and starts to gnaw on his fingers.)

Dressed in a comfortable looking blue romper and one of the little knit hats Jason had dragged out from the depths of the baby bag when they got up to the freezing cold hotel room, Damian should look as cute as any of the babies that Jason has seen on the TV in his suite.

And he is… Kinda.

The scowl that twists up his mouth when he can’t figure out how to jam the entirety of his fist into his mouth makes him look like a little troll, but hey, trolls can be cute.

Jason finds himself smiling at Damian, lips quirking upward in a crooked grin as he reaches out and offers Damian one of his still-gloved fingers to play with. “You’ve got such a mean looking face, Damian,” Jason whispers in a low voice when Damian eyes the offered finger suspiciously and then bats it away with a huff. “Damn, you’re definitely my spawn.”

The leather gloves get tossed off the side of the bed and Jason tries again to play with the scowling infant that is tracking his every move with a serious blue gaze. This time when he offers his index finger to Damian, the baby reaches for it. He seems fascinated by Jason’s callused finger and he pulls his father’s hand up close to his face with spit sticky fingers so that he can get a better look.

After a few minutes of poking and prodding Jason’s finger, Damian decides that his father’s finger is harmless and thus winds up doing the inevitable: raising it to his mouth to gum it.

Jason laughs and pulls his hand away easily, wiping his fingers off on the bedspread. “I’m not food, little guy,” he says in a low voice that just seems to come naturally as Damian’s bottom lip pokes out and starts to tremble. “If you want something to eat, it’s going to have to a bottle.” Damian visibly perks up and sits up as best as he can in the pillow nest, obviously understanding _some_  of what Jason is saying to him.

There’s no way that Jason can misunderstand the way that Damian is suddenly bouncing on the bed. “Do you want a bottle, kid?”

Damian gurgles and reaches for Jason with both hands opening and closing quickly. “Ba,” he announces in a loud voice that actually manages to make Jason jump a little. “Baba!” When Jason doesn’t move to feed him, Damian’s eyes narrow and he repeats himself louder, leaning forward until he starts to fall over.

Jason catches Damian before he can land on his face and pulls his scowling son close to his chest. When he breathes in he can still smell Talia’s perfume on the baby’s head and a wave of nostalgia rises up in him as he thinks back to the good times they had before—

Before everything.

Damian hiccups and then starts crying softly, fingers flexing in Jason’s jacket as he squirms against the hand holding him upright. He keeps repeating pleas for his “baba” as he cries and Jason can’t resist the urge to kiss the crown of his son’s head.

It takes some work, but Jason eventually manages to rise to his feet while cradling Damian in his arms. He bounces Damian gently in his arms as he crosses the room to where the various bottles of baby formula and other things are scattered over the top of a dresser. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Jason says in response to Damian’s fussing. “Don’t worry, Damian. Daddy’s here.”


	3. Bedtime Ritual

It’s two o’clock in the morning and Damian won’t stop crying.

Jason does everything he can to quiet the wailing infant but nothing works. He tries reading to Damian, going through the Bible next to the nightstand and several takeout menus in a matter of minutes to no avail as his son squirms and sobs from his nest of pillows and blankets. When reading doesn’t work, Jason starts to pace around the hotel suite with Damian’s head tucked underneath his chin. He hums to Damian softly as he bounces the baby in his arms, picking easy lullabies that worked on him when he was little and praying that one of them will click.

Damian continues crying, his soft hiccupping cries slowly gaining in intensity until Jason is wincing for it. He curls his fists into the front of his father’s white tank top and rubs his face against the soft fabric. “Baba,” he whimpers, fingers flexing as his tears soak the front of Jason’s shirt. He repeats the word a couple times, but Jason doesn’t get it.

“Come on little man, it’s too late for you to want a bottle,” Jason murmurs against his son’s downy, dark hair as he brushes his lips over the crown of the baby’s head. “Hurry up and go to sleep. Tomorrow we have to get up really early. Don’t you want to go to sleep?”

Damian shakes his head and wails even louder. “Baba,” he says up at Jason as he pats his father’s jaw and tries to convey some kind of meaning with the press of his chubby fingers. He sniffles softly and butts his head against Jason’s cheek, trying to pull himself up so that he can loop his little arms around Jason’s neck. “Baba,” he whispers again, this time turning his head so that his cheek is pressed to Jason’s.

And then it hits Jason.

Hard.

He holds Damian up in front of his face and ignores the way that his son growls at him and starts trying to escape his hold. “Are you calling  _me_ ‘baba’?” It’s not possible right? Babies aren’t supposed to actually know what they’re talking about when they’re barely eight months old, but Damian eyes Jason as though he’s surprised that his father has taken that long to arrive at that answer and blows a spit bubble at the older man.

“Fine,” Jason says with a small smile shaping up his lips because yeah… Damian really  _is_  a cute little troll. “If I let you sleep with me, will you stop crying?”

The only answer that Jason gets from Damian is a sleepy, milk-scented yawn.

And it’s good enough for now.


	4. Moving On

Jason’s phone rings early in the morning before the sun even rises over the city. It takes a few moments before he can answer it, but when he places it against his ear, he isn’t expecting to hear Talia’s voice.

Talia wastes no time with pleasantries. “My father knows where you are,” she says in a fast rush of words, “There are two ticket vouchers and some money waiting for you at Zurich Airport under your favorite alias. Take Damian and leave the city as fast as you can.”

Still half-caught in a haze of sleep, it takes Jason a second or two for Talia’s words to register. He bolts up from the bed and nearly falls off the side of the bed. “Ra’s knows where we are?”

Talia sighs and puts as much disgust as she can into that single sound. “Yes, Jason,” she breathes in a weary tone. “By now I’m sure he has men heading to Zurich as we speak.”

Jason swears under his breath and then glances over at Damian when the baby starts to stir and make soft, frustrated noises. “We’ll leave now,” he promises, already moving around the room to grab his clothes. “Do you want to know where we’re going?”

“Of course not,” Talia says as though she isn’t particularly impressed by Jason’s early-morning reasoning skills. “I’ll find you if I need you.” She hangs up, leaving Jason to curse and kick the dresser before shoving his phone into his pocket.

Jason leans over the bed and brushes his fingers over the back of Damian’s cheek as the baby stares up at him. “Come on, little guy,” he murmurs in a low voice, “It looks like we’re moving on.”

 

\--------------

Two hours later, Jason and Damian are on a flight to Star City.


	5. Bossy Little Shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian is a willful baby and Jason’s reflexes aren’t up to snuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was sort of inspired by [this absolutely adorable picture](http://kiwi-pie.tumblr.com/post/26124005050/long-day-jason-and-baby-damian-for-misssynph) that Kiwi did for me (it can be seen as the aftermath of this fic) and I hope this is a suitable work in response.

Babies are supposed to sleep as much as cats do, Jason thinks to himself as he watches Damian crawl around the floor of the living room in hotel suite in the good part of Star City where they’ve been living in for almost three weeks.

Everything that Jason knows about babies (which isn’t a whole lot) says that he’s supposed to have a small and quiet bundle of joy on his hands. His son is supposed to sleep often, eat plenty, and just start figuring out how to scoot around the room. Damian is supposed to be no trouble at all, a cute little baby that’s just a little too smart for his age.

Instead, Jason finds himself with a ridiculously intelligent troll of a baby that can crawl around on the carpet almost faster than Jason can chase after him. And he’s getting tired. “Come here, Damian,” Jason says as his son stands up starts to gnaw on the frayed end of a small decorative pillow that had fallen to the floor a few days ago. “That’s dirty, Damian.”

Damian looks up at Jason and then turns back to his prize, leaving a wet trail and teeth marks in the fabric. He’s been ignoring Jason regularly and the rebellion, while cute in a way, isn’t good for their relationship.

“Damian,” Jason says again, firming his voice without raising it, “I said come  _here_.” Jason points at the section of carpet next to where he’s sitting on the floor and then frowns at Damian as the chubby little infant stares at him with wide eyes. It’s one of the few times that Jason has spoken harshly to Damian and from the way that the baby’s bottom lip trembles and his fingers start to tremble around the pillow in his hands, it’s probably going to be the last time for a while at least.

Jason gets up on his hands and knees and makes to crawl towards Damian.

It’s a mistake.

Damian flinches and then wobbles on his shaky little legs. Jason is fast, but he’s still not fast enough to catch his son before the baby drops down on the carpeted floor bottom first. The side of Damian’s head smacks into the front of the couch with a soft thud right before Jason reaches him. At first, Damian doesn’t cry. He looks at Jason with wide blue eyes as his bottom lip pushes out and at first, Jason thinks that Damian is okay, that he’s not hurt  at all.

And then the screaming starts.

Damian doesn’t do  _anything_  quietly and crying is no exception. He starts to rub the side of his head with one clenched fist as he wails, hiccupping cries echoing through the room as tears trickle down his chubby brown cheeks.

“Shh, Damian,” Jason says, his own voice coming out rough as he gathers his crying son up into his arms and sets about checking him for any serious injury. Damian fights him the whole time, smacking Jason with his fists and squirming around in an attempt to get loose. But Jason doesn’t let him go. “It’s alright, Damian,” Jason promises as he feels around the spot where Damian’s head had connected with the couch. “You’re fine.” He holds the baby’s suspicious gaze as he rubs the back of Damian’s head and shoulders with one hand until Damian grunts and seems to relax a little bit.

“Baba?” Damian perks up a few seconds later, reaching for Jason’s face with his chubby little fingers. He pokes Jason in the cheek and then sort of throws himself forward so that he can get closer to his father. “Ba! Ba!”

Translating Damian’s babble into something useable had been hard, but Jason has to smile now at the way that Damian expects to be understood. “You’re hungry now aren’t you, little guy?” He rubs Damian’s stomach as he speaks and laughs as his son snorts and tries to wiggle away from him. “Let’s get you something to eat. I take it you want a bottle huh?”

Damian nods his head and then jams one of his thumbs into his mouth. “Gimme ba,” he orders, looking as bossy as a baby who still wears gigantic diapers can manage. “Then nap.”

Jason presses a kiss to Damian’s forehead and then pulls himself to his feet with the arm not wrapped around his son’s solid body. “Bossy little shit,” he murmurs as Damian cuddles close and curls one spit-sticky hand in the front of his t-shirt. But he smiles as he says it, because Damian is growing so fast and so well.

Maybe he isn’t that bad with children after all…


	6. Play Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian is fascinated by his new toy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by[ this very cute picture](http://sevenbricks.tumblr.com/post/27296869585/damian-cant-figure-out-his-puzzle-baby-damian) of baby!Damian.

Damian’s first real toy is a puzzle set with big plastic blocks that are the perfect size for the baby’s chubby little fingers.No matter how much Damian tries, he can’t destroy the blocks or the little wooden box that they slot into. He can’t use his teeth to scrape off the paint or scratch dents in the toy.

And boy does Damian try.

“Take that out of your mouth,” Jason says in an absent murmur as he flips through a real-estate flyer and watches Damian play out of the corner of one eye. When he looks up at Damian, the baby has somehow managed to get one point of the triangle-shaped block in his mouth and the red paint is glossy and slick from his spit.

Jason reaches out and gently takes the toy out of Damian’s mouth. “Kid, that can’t taste good,” he mutters, wiping the spit-covered block off on the front of his son’s t-shirt before handing it back to him. “Try to keep it out of your mouth, okay?”

Damian gives Jason such a stink eye. He snatches the toy away from his father as best as he can with small fingers and then looks his father in the eye as he goes back to gnawing at the plastic toy. Damian chews on the toy for a few seconds until he lets it fall out of his mouth to thud against the carpet.

“Baba,” Damian calls out in a high pitched voice, “Baba play.” He pats the toy in front of him and then looks up at Jason expectantly. “Play now!”

Jason rolls his eyes at Damian, but sets his paper aside for the moment. He’ll always be able to look at available homes later if Damian doesn’t tear it to shreds before he falls asleep, but Damian doesn’t often want to be bothered when he’s playing by himself. This is a chance that Jason just has to take.


	7. Soft Landing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason gets baby Damian ready to go out for a snow day in Star City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written as a request for my six year old niece Tomia.

If Jason is willing to be honest and ridiculously sappy to boot, he has to admit that Damian does look pretty cute in his going out clothes.

The red and blue snow suit makes the little kid look like a stuffed animal and Damian can hardly move his little limbs and waddle over, much less gather up enough steam to do more than grunt up at Jason and bare his little teeth in a small snarl.

“I’m sorry, little guy,” Jason says to Damian as he shrugs on his own coat. “They don’t make leather coats in your size.” Technically, that’s a lie, but Jason can’t  _afford_  to pay someone to custom make a little leather trench for a baby that’s only going to grow out of it in a few months. Not with what money he has to set aside for apartment hunting…

Damian huffs as though he can understand his father and tries to stand up again, curling his small fingers around a piece of wood jutting out from the dresser and pulling himself up until he’s standing up on shaky legs. Every day, Damian seems to be getting better at walking. He can stand up on his own now and can even walk a few steps forward before falling flat on his heavily padded backside when his attention wavers.

He does so now, shuffling in Jason’s direction while using the dresser in order to keep his balance. He almost makes it too. Damian gets within two feet of his father and then gets a little carried away, letting go of the dresser so that he can toddle over to where his father sits to lace up his boots.

“Be careful, Damian,” Jason warns, narrowing his eyes as he prepares to dive forward and gather his scowling son up in his arms once the little baby has fallen. “You know you still have a hard time walking—”

Damian growls at Jason and keeps walking. An unsteady wobble appears in his steps as he starts across the plush carpet, but Damian keeps pushing himself until he simply… topples over onto the floor. Air escapes from the seat of Damian’s pants when he lands hard and the baby’s eyes are wide and blue as though it’s the first time he’s fallen on his behind.

“Are you gonna cry?” Jason asks, trying not to smile as Damian rubs at his damp eyes with his gloved fists and looks absolutely miserable. He has to cave and snicker to himself when Damian shakes his head while already sniffling. “Do you want a hug?”

“Yes, Baba,” Damian says with a firm nod of his head that makes his puffy hat slide a little bit on top of his dark hair. He holds his arms up and then flexes his fingers in his little gloves. “Hug now.” Damian looks ridiculously adorable as he scowls and looks up at Jason as if to ask why he isn’t being gathered up and hugged tightly in that instant.

Jason shakes his head, laughing softly at Damian’s pouty little face and then just reaches out and snatches his son up before Damian’s scowl can twist into something sadder. He holds Damian close and then brushes his nose against the soft side of Damian’s plush cheek, sneaking a deep inhale of Damian’s baby powder and milk scent.

“Are you ready to go out and play in the snow?”

Damian nods and mutters something into the side of his father’s face that sounds like a yes. His little fingers stroke over Jason’s jacket as he wriggles close and makes himself comfortable against Jason’s chest.

“I’ll take that as a yes, little guy.”


	8. I'm Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian misses Talia and Jason has no idea what to do.

Damian wakes Jason up with the sound of his crying.

It’s something that Jason is sadly getting used to.

The little baby is curled up in his nest of pillows on the big bed that takes up all of the room in the master bedroom, but instead of sleeping, Damian is sucking in air and letting out these hitching little sobs that make Jason’s heart hurt. When Jason reaches for Damian to gather the infant up in his arms, Damian starts to struggle before his father’s fingers touch him. He pitches back and forth over the bed, crying and babbling in a frantic rush as his fingers open and close.

Most of it sounds like nonsense to Jason’s ears, a tangled mess of syllables that mean nothing to Jason except that his baby is upset and possibly hurt. Some of it means something to Jason only because Damian came to him with those words already in his head and mixed into his baby babble.

Damian whimpers once and the sound of it is heartbreaking. “Baba. Wan’ Mama,” he says, clear as day, “Mama?” He makes it into a question on the last one, pushing Jason away as his father continues to try to cuddle him close. Damian’s little nose crinkles up and even more tears collect at the corners of his eyes as he looks around, obviously looking for Talia who of course isn’t sitting in their tiny ass apartment in Star City. “Mama?”

Jason shakes his head. “She’s not here,” Jason says, trying for a soothing tone as Damian whimpers and smears tears all over his shoulder. “It’s okay, Damian. I’m here.” Jason’s not good at comforting anyone, but he has to try for Damian. He has to do something to keep his son from bawling his eyes out. Jason settles one hand on Damian’s back to hold him steady and then inches over to the end of the bed so that he can stand up without dropping him.

“I’m here,” Jason says in into the downy softness of Damian’s dark hair, repeating the words until they sound like another language to his ears. “It’s okay, Damian. It’s okay.” He kisses the top of Damian’s head, smelling a sadly familiar mix of milky formula and the salt of the baby’s tears. Jason starts to walk out into the living room, bouncing Damian in his arms as he tries to figure out how to get Damian to stop crying. “Come on, little guy… You’re okay.”

Damian doesn’t stop crying, but Jason doesn’t stop walking around with him either.


	9. Happy Birthday, Baby D

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Damian’s birthday and Jason makes it as special as he can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written as one of several stories to celebrate my birthday on October 24th
> 
> The cupcake described in this story in loving detail is one of the oh-so delicious ones from crumbs.com because one day I’m going to get it and eat it and I think Damian would love it as much as I would.

The cupcake that Jason orders a few months after Damian comes to live with him is massive. At a little over seven inches high, the icing-covered confection is almost bigger than Damian’s head and in decadent peanut butter buttercream icing. Jason pulls it out of the box while Damian is finishing his birthday dinner --a special treat of waffle-cut French fries and chicken nuggets and strawberry milk-- and then pushes it across the table to where the infant is sitting in his high chair at the dining room table.

“Happy birthday, little guy,” Jason says as he pushes a candle into the top of the cupcake in between the little pieces of peanut butter and chocolate candy scattered across the top of the cupcake. He flicks the top of his lighter until he has a wavering flame and carefully lights the candle so that it starts to flicker in the air from the air conditioning. “Blow out the candle, kid. You’ve earned it.”

Damian looks up at Jason with wide eyes. He looks so small in his high chair and the candle casts all sorts of shadows over his round little face as he makes a face at the candle and cupcake in front of him. “Baba,” Damian says as he points one chubby finger at the candle, “Mine?”

Jason nods his head and then raps his knuckles on the table just off to the side of the peanut butter cupcake. “It’s all yours, little guy,” Jason says in a coaxing tone because he never knows when Damian will react positively to getting s surprise, “Don’t you want to make a wish?”

Damian nods his little head and then sucks in air that has his cheeks puffed out. He looks like a little forest creature rather than a small child and Jason has to admit that he has a cute kid. The first time that Damian blows out a puff of air in the direction of the candle, the flame wavers and almost goes out, but then it rises back up as though Damian hadn’t done anything at all.

“Baba,” Damian says, voice lifting in a wail as his fists bang against the top of his high chair hard enough to make the cupcake wobble threateningly. “Baba, why?” Damian gives the cupcake and candle a look as though it’s done something to offending. “It won’t go out!”

Jason laughs and then has to muffle it with the cupped palm of one hand when Damian’s head whips around and gives him a dirty look. “Do you want help blowing it out?” Jason asks as he runs his fingers through the fine black hair at the top of Damian’s head in a gesture that’s supposed to be comforting to them both. “I can help.”

Damian nods his head hard enough that he almost topples right over. “Yes, Baba,” he says with a wave of his hands at his dessert. “Help me.” He doesn’t say please, but Jason decides that he’ll give into his son just once. They can always work on Damian’s manners some other day.

“Okay, we’ll do it together,” Jason says in response to his son and then ducks his head so that he can press his cheek to the side of Damian’s face and puff his cheeks up with air. “One, two--” On three, Jason blows out the candle (with Damian’s help of course) and then presses a quick kiss to his son’s cheek as Damian claps his hand and beams at the cake in front of him. “You can have half of the cupcake, Damian,” Jason says as Damian starts to make little gimme motions at the cupcake. “It’s too late for you to eat it all now and you can have the rest tomorrow.”

Damian screws up his face and wrinkles his little nose. He looks as though he’s seconds away from throwing a tantrum and Jason is prepared to have to talk harshly to his infant son. However, Damian surprises his father. He takes a taste of the rich icing and then sticks his plastic fork in the top of his cupcake and then looks up at his father. “Share cake?”

Jason laughs and then ruffles Damian’s soft hair. “Sure thing, kid.” 


	10. Halloween Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason gets new Halloween plans at the last minute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are getting the Halloween story early because I have papers to write and I don't want to wind up rushing on Wednesday. I hope you enjoy the cuteness!

Damian is too adorable in his Halloween costume and he knows it.

As Jason pushes him around the grocery store in the shopping cart, the little guy makes faces and curls his fingers into a facsimile of tiny claws and growls at people as they walk by. He narrows his eyes at the other children that pass by the cart with their own parents and manages to make some rather impressive roaring noises.

Jason reaches out and pats the top of Damian’s hooded costume, playing with the tawny fringe at the top that’s supposed to be a mane. “Be nice, kiddo,” he says as Damian flexes his fingers and bares his tiny teeth at a little girl whose mother has walked away from her to grab a box of sugary cereal. “Grumpy lions don’t get treats for Halloween and they certainly don’t get to go Trick o’ Treating. I thought you wanted to get candy tonight.”

Damian makes a face that scrunches up his little nose and then pats his stomach absently, rubbing his fingers over pale gold faux fur and making it stand up from static electricity. “Good lion,” Damian announces after a moment of silence that allows Jason to go and pick up some of the things on his shopping list without worrying that his son will decide that he really  _is_  a lion and go pounce on someone. “Want candy! Want treats!”

“Yeah,” Jason says as he braces his arms on the push bar of the shopping cart and leans in so that he’s almost nose to nose with his son. “Are you going to be good for the rest of the day?”

Damian doesn’t understand the concept of good and bad just yet, but he nods anyway. “I be good,” he says in a decisive tone, reaching up and patting his father’s face with both of his gloved hands. “Be good and get candy.” Damian gets distracted and starts to squeeze his father’s cheeks, squishing his face as Jason rolls his eyes and tries to keep from laughing. Damian pats Jason’s cheek and pokes at his father’s stubble as he generally manages to act as though his father is a stranger to his searching fingers.

Another cart bumps into Jason’s cart and when he looks up from Damian’s chubby little face, he sees a familiar face.  Roy Harper is there standing in front of Jason with his own infant sitting in the basket of the cart dressed in a yellow and black bee costume and when he sees Jason playing with Damian, he smiles and shakes his head.

“I couldn’t get Lian to leave the house in regular clothes either,” Roy says as he gestures between Damian and Lian in their costumes. “Mia and Connor put her in the bee costume this morning and every time I tried to get her out of it, she threw a fit. Same thing happen to you?” Roy’s smile is open and easy, friendly even though Jason is a stranger in  _his_  city and he could be giving him a hell of a hard time. “We’re taking her out tonight for the first time. Do you want to come with us?”

Jason shrugs. “That depends,” he says, standing up to his full height and ignoring Damian’s soft fussing for the moment. “Why are you being so nice to me?” He frowns, knowing full well that a very public grocery store in the middle of Star City is both the best and the worst place to have a conversation with the man in front of him. “I’m not exactly a good guy anymore.”

Roy shrugs his own shoulders.

“I’m not saying that you are,” he says slow enough to make Jason’s teeth itch from frustration as they stand in the mostly empty aisle. “But you’ve been here three months and you haven’t done anything but help us out and take care of your kid. So I’m going to be nice because I can.” Roy pauses so that he can duck down and scoop Lian up just as she starts to press the corner of a box of cherry-flavored gelatin into her mouth and then keeps talking. “Mia likes Damian and so does Lian. We live in a decent neighborhood and this way you can keep your kid happy without worrying that he’ll get hurt by the demon’s goons.”

There has to be some way for Jason to say no to Roy. It’s not that he  _wants_  to schlep Damian all around the city while armed to the teeth in case Ra’s decides to make his move, but Roy was Dick’s friend first and--

Damian gurgles and looks up at his father with an expectant look on his round little face. The dark smudges of Damian’s eyebrows draw together over his eyes and his bottom lip trembles as though he really understands what Jason and Roy were saying over his head. “Baba, treat?” Damian asks as he pats Jason’s hand and wiggles in the plastic seat of the cart. “Please?”

Jason sighs, resigned to spending Halloween night with more company than he’s had in the past few months, and then a few seconds later Roy laughs. When Jason looks up at him, the older man’s green eyes are sparkling with mirth and his lips curve up into a smile as he bounces Lian in the crook of one arm.

“What time should we expect you to show up tonight?” Roy asks.

Sucking his teeth on instinct, Jason narrows his eyes. “Sunset,” he says, biting the word out in a tone that just barely manages to keep a thin veneer of civility. “And I’m  _not_  dressing up no matter what you say.”

Roy laughs again and shakes his head as though Jason is the funniest thing he’s seen in ages. “Don’t worry, Jason,” he says as Lian cuddles close to his shoulder and starts to mouth at strings of his hoodie. “Mia and Connor already have that covered. All you and I have to do is push the strollers.”


	11. Baby D’s First X-Mas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and baby Damian get take Roy and Ollie up on the offer to spend the holidays with them.

Oliver Queen greets Jason and Damian at the door with a smile on his face and a red hat covering his blond hair.

Dressed in a bright red Santa costume with a fluffy cotton beard covering his own facial hair, the older man looks close enough to the jolly red menace that Damian immediately starts trying to pitch out of Jason’s arms while screaming at the top of his little lungs.

It’s only been a few weeks since Jason introduced to the oversaturation of Christmas, but already Damian  seems to know that Santa means presents.

And Damian  _loves_  presents.

Damian growls and wriggles in Jason’s arms until his father gets tired of trying to keep him in his arms and all but  _shoves_  him at Oliver.  ”Merry Christmas, old man,” Jason says, fighting the urge to grin as Oliver struggles to keep a hold on Damian as the infant growls and tries to pull his beard off his face. “Thanks for inviting me and the brat for the holidays. And um, thanks for not telling you-know-who that we’re here.”

Bruce’s name lingers in the air between them, but Jason refuses to address the grim specter that is his relationship with his former father figure. He watches Damian makes himself good and comfortable at Oliver’s expense and then jerks his thumb back in the direction of where Jason’s car —an old Impala that seems to run off of Jason’s rage instead of gas— sits idling in the driveway. “I have presents in the car. Do you think you can spare one of your kids to help?”

This is the longest conversation that Jason has ever had with Oliver Queen and it doesn’t escape Jason for one second how hard it is to be standoffish towards someone when they’re holding a baby as cute as Damian is in their arms.

Oliver blinks at Jason and then hoists Damian up a little higher. “Sure, kid,” he says on instinct, “I’ll see who I can find and—” Oliver pauses and makes a face as though he’s trying to pull words out of the air. “And don’t thank me. Roy said that you and your kid needed a place to go. We always have room so—”

Jason shakes his head and then cuts Oliver off. “I know what Roy did,” he says, “and trust me, I’m going to thank him too. But it’s your house and you could have said no. So… thanks for having us as guests.”

In Oliver’s arms, Damian gurgles and pats the other man on the face before settling back down in his arms.

“See? Even Damian is happy to be here.”

Roy’s voice comes through loud and clear from somewhere in the entryway to Oliver’s big house.

“Don’t tell me you’ve had Jason and Damian outside this whole time, Oliie,” Roy shouts before his face appears over Oliver’s shoulder and the fuzzy white puff at the end of his own Santa hat drops down on top of Damian’s downy black hair. “Oh. Hey, Jason. It’s good to see you.” Somehow, Roy manages to squeeze between Oliver and the side of the doorway to get to Jason. “Is my old man chatting your ear off?”

Jason finds himself smiling in response to Roy and he steps backward off the front steps. “Yeah, but I’m used to it,” Jason says in response to Roy’s lighthearted jab at his father. “So are you gonna help me get the gifts or what?”

“You bought gifts? For someone besides Damian?”

Jason rolls his eyes. “What’d you think,” he mutters, “I’m not that big a jerk. You guys invited us so of course I got you all gifts.” It’s cold outside and Jason makes a face for the feel of snow flurries drifting down to cover his ears and make him shiver. “Can we get the bags before I freeze to death?”

Roy laughs and then slaps Jason  _hard_  in between his shoulder blades. “You’re such a cry baby,” he says in a fond tone as he follows Jason to the car, “I hope you’ve wrapped everything up because I think Mia will  _kill_  us if she has to wrap any more presents today.”

“Unlike you all,” Jason says, grunting a little as he yanks a couple of heavy gift bags out of the trunk of his car and gives them to Roy, “Unlike you lazy jerks, I don’t have teenagers to do my work for me. All I have is Damian and he’s not much help unless I want drool all over everything.” It’s nice, having quality time with someone his own age. Damian is a cute kid and all, but Jason swears that he could feel himself  _regressing_  the longer he spent alone with Damian on a daily basis. Roy is—

Roy is a good guy. He’s a good dad and a good friend and he hasn’t once tried to get Jason to go and talk to Bruce or any of the others.

Jason reaches out and touches the sleeve of Roy’s heavy coat, saying the other man’s name in order to get his attention.

“Hm?”

“Thanks, man.”

Roy’s lips curl up in a smile. “No problem, Jaybird.”

And there lies the only bad thing about a friendship with Roy —the incessant nicknames. Jason snorts and shakes his head. “You get a pass since it’s Christmas, but this is the last time. Quit it with the nicknames already, man.”

Roy starts trudging through the light dusting of snow on the ground and for a minute, it looks like Jason has finally managed to get one over his friend. And then Roy says without turning around, “Whatever you say, short stuff .”

Jason rolls his eyes decides to hoist his own bag of gifts higher up on his shoulders in lieu of firing back a less-than-witty barb at Roy. His  main new years resolution is to be a good role model to Damian, but he can always start a little earlier on that goal. At least until Roy lets his guard down some, that is.


	12. Child Minding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the slightly distant future, Jason gets wrangled into child-minding duty alongside Mia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages ago, someone asked me to write something for this universe with baby Damian and Irey being cute chubby babies together. I kept pulling at it and editing it, but I figured now was a good time to get it out into the universe.

Jason takes one look around the room full of babies and immediately regrets letting Mia talk him into helping her.

Every cape on the coast that has a kid under the age of four has left them in Mia's care for this week's current crisis and Jason's the lucky sap helping her out on top of minding his own little troll while Connor makes himself scarce elsewhere under the pretense of picking up food for lunch.

Normally, Jason likes kids. They're cute and they're unbiased when it comes to his background. As long as they don't hurl on him or pee on him, he loves being around kids.

But watching a roomful of little metahumans with only one other adult to help?

That's something he doesn't love in the slightest.

Looking around the room, Jason frowns as he watches the kids crawl over the mats spread out across the floor and curl up against other toddlers. If he wasn't supposed to be watching them, it'd actually be cute as hell. (Even with the weight of responsibility taking all the fun out of toddler watching, Jason does have to admit that the little tykes are cuter than they have any right to be.)

"Hey, Mia," Jason calls out as he watches her wipe chocolate pudding off of Lian's round face despite her squirming and loud complaining. "How many of these brats are potty trained or close to it?"

Mia frowns, blond eyebrows drawing together.

"I-- I'm not sure," she admits. "Irey and Jai are, I think, but I'm guessing most of the other kids aren't. Don't worry though, unless they all decide that they need to go to the bathroom at the same time, you shouldn't have to change anyone but Damian."

Mia offers Jason a soft smile and then sets Lian down on the ground. "Just keep them entertained and safe and we'll be fine."

Irey West chooses that moment to trip and fall right on top of Damian. The high-pitched screaming fit that follows makes Jason want to run through the crowd of toddlers as they look around, eyes widening as they try to figure out the source of the noise. If not for how afraid Jason is of stepping on one of the little kids on accident, he'd already be there cuddling Damian.

As it stands, by the time Jason makes it to his son's side, Damian is already back to his usual grumpy self even though Irey isn't quite back on her tiny feet.

Sticking his fingers into his mouth, Damian growls at Irey as the other toddler tries to right herself and then rolls over into her path before she can crawl across the floor to her brother. When Irey falls over again, Damian reaches for her with his free hand and curls his fingers in the soft pink material of her t-shirt, pulling at her until the other toddler grumbles back at him in return.

"I thought that the Flash's kids would be faster," Jason calls out in Mia's direction as he crouches down beside his son and his new... friend. Irey doesn't seem that much faster than any of the other toddlers crawling all over the mats and each other. "Why aren't we chasing them all over the building? I remember hearing about how Wally was when he was a kid and --"

Mia looks up from where she has several toddlers crawling all over her legs and smiles at Jason.

"Wally took care of it," she says. "He took their speed away or something. I've seen him do it with Bart when he was sick. It's so us slow people can keep up with them."

Jason nods to show that he gets it and then drops down next to the mat where Damian has Irey's shirt clutched in his tiny fists.

"I see you're making friends," Jason says, chucking Damian's chin and getting drool all over his fingers for his trouble. Laughing, Jason pulls his hand back and wipes his hand on the front of Damian's black shirt until his fingers are dry. Ignoring Damian's grouching, Jason makes himself comfortable on the floor. "Think you can let Irey go before she kicks you?"

Damian looks up at his father and grumbles softly, the dark dots of his little eyebrows drawing together as he frowns.

"No," Damian says. It's his favorite word and Jason gets to hear him say it at least three times an hour on a good day.  "No let go."

Damian looks at Irey and then, doing the direct opposite of what his words suggest, he releases his hold on the other baby's soft shirt. Damian crawls across the short distance between him and Jason and then makes himself comfortable sitting half on top of his father's leg. "Play now?"

Jason ignores Damian for a moment in favor of turning to Irey.

"You okay, Irey?" Jason asks as Irey pulls herself up into a seated position. The little girl makes a face at Jason and curls her tiny fingers into her curly red hair as she eyes Damian warily. Jason wants to laugh at how utterly upset Irey looks, but he knows better. Offering the bright-eyed toddler a smile, Jason says,

"I know. I know. You're mad at my little troll aren't you?"

Irey nods her head, bottom lip wobbling.

"I fall," she says firmly before pointing at Damian's upturned nose and scowling. "Made me fall."

Jason nods.

"Yeah," Jason says, smiling when Damian wiggles against him and utters a high sound of denial. "He did. Damian's a little butt isn't he?" Jason offers Irey the hand not curled loosely around one of Damian's short little arms and when she comes closer, he brushes his thumb over the back of her hand. "He won't be mean anymore. I promise."

"Pwomise?" Irey repeats, with a lisp in her high voice. She gives Damian a suspicious look as she drops down onto the soft mats in front of them.

Jason nudges Damian forward. "I won't let him be mean," he says softly. "You'll be good. Right, Damian?"

Damian growls but leans forward almost to the point where he'd fall if not for Jason's fingers against his skin. "I'm good," he tells Irey as he pats her leg with one chubby hand. "Not mean." He curls his fingers in against her sweatpants for a second before leaning his head back and looking up at his father. "Okay, Daddy?"

Jason smiles and squeezes Damian in a quick, tight hug. "Definitely okay, kid."


End file.
